Experience Of Collaborative Work Research Articles

Exploring physiotherapy students' experiences of interprofessional collaboration in the clinical setting: A critical incident study

Effective interprofessional collaboration is considered essential for optimum healthcare delivery. Studies have investigated interprofessional education (IPE) as a means for improving collaborative practice, and evidence suggests that the clinical setting offers opportunities for interprofessional learning (IPL). Little is known, however, about the aspects of clinical practice that students perceive as meaningful to their IPL. This study explores physiotherapy students' experiences of collaborative working, and identifies their perceptions of the skills used and factors affecting interprofessional interactions in the clinical setting. Twenty second-year physiotherapy students studying in London provided written critical incident reports describing good and poor interprofessional collaborative encounters in the clinical setting. The data were subjected to thematic content analysis. Students identified communication and interprofessional relationships as the main factors affecting collaboration and perceived teamwork in formal contexts (e.g., team meetings) as generally effective with positive outcomes for professionals and patients. Informal collaboration was perceived to be poor and attributed primarily to insufficient direct contact and communication. The wide range of described experiences and learning outcomes indicate that clinical placements provide potentially valuable IPL opportunities. Facilitating the development of informal (ad hoc) collaborative teamwork skills is proposed as an important consideration when planning and implementing IPE in this setting.

L’enjeu de la coordination gérontologique en France

The system of elder care and assistance in France is highly fragmented, making it difficult to coordinate actions of the medical-social gerontological policy at different levels. Numerous attempts at coordination have been undertaken by the public authorities, but without much success. However, the idea of coordination has given rise to relatively formalized collaborative work experiences by teams in the field. These successful experiences show that the goals of coordination are heterogeneous and increase our understanding of the processes at work. Several factors which continuously crop up are behind the success obtained. Their identification will shed light on the actions to be undertaken in order to truly develop the gerontological coordination needed at the different levels.

Promoting Empathy Through the Dynamics of Staff Development: What Schools Can Offer Their Teachers as Learners

This is a revised version of a paper presented at the International Conference on Empathy, Experience and Spirituality, June 2001, Roehampton University of Surrey. Based on the presenter’s substantial experience of collaborative support work with teachers in Britain and overseas, the paper was stimulated by Ron Best’s argument in Pastoral Care in Education 18 (2000), on the nurturing of empathy through ‘the experience schools provide for children’, and highlights the opportunities for such provision for teachers’ own experiences in the educational setting.

Action Research and Distributed Problem-Based Learning in Continuing Professional Education

In this paper I am concerned with the analysis of the collaborative work and learning experiences of students involved in distributed problem-based learning (dPBL), with a view to beginning to answer the question: "What happens in a dPBL group?" In order to do this I present two related studies. The first study examines the way in which a dPBL group develops over the period of its work. I show that there are three distinct, but often simultaneous phases of group development: A long first phase characterized by negotiation; a second phase where there is division of work and considerable research activity; and a third phase of production. A snap shot of the early negotiation phase is analysed and discussed as a means of indicating some of the dynamics of the group. The second study looks at the ways in which the work of the group implicitly and explicitly helps to develop and sustain it as a "community of learners." I identify two characteristics of this group which help explain how it sustains itself as a community of learners: The achievement of milestones, and the negotiation of identity and knowledge. The methodological approach adopted in these studies involves examination of the work of a dPBL group as it occurred online, and the analysis of transcripts of their discussions, debates, activities and shared production. In addition, members of the groups were involved in focused, in-depth interviews about their experience of learning in dPBL contexts. Implications for practice are discussed.

Practical Steps Towards Gender Equality with the Under‐Fives

Abstract The focus of this article is on coordinating and supporting small changes in nursery practice, towards the goal of gender equality. It is a reflection on the collaborative research that developed from an action enquiry into anti‐sexist strategies with the under fives. I was seconded from my nursery class for a year to set up this project with the cooperation of four volunteer partner schools and a group of critical colleagues. The aim of the project was to establish teaching approaches which challenge sexism and to develop effective intervention strategies. Four separate areas of concern emerged as an initial focus for research in the schools: girl dominated home corner play ‐‐ misuse by boys; boy dominated construction play ‐‐ under‐use by girls; anti‐sexist input into outdoor play provision; disruptive behaviour/challenging stereotypes and reviewing resources. My role as a teacher/researcher was to link in, advise upon and co‐ordinate the partner schools’ efforts to implement changes, within the framework of their own practice. The underlying principle was to use a collaborative research approach, sharing aims and work experiences. The key stages in this article are observation, which then informs awareness of gender equality issues, leading to the planning and monitoring of small changes in classroom practice. Finally I have set some of the questions which were posed by our observations of nursery children alongside some practical resource suggestions to conclude this article.

Classroom training strategies to strengthen the hotbed of research in architecture

The Architecture program at the Catholic University of Colombia needs to strengthen the research processes within its classrooms and consequently, it is important to make a direct link with the hotbeds of research. In this context, it is worth asking what the best classroom training strategy to link and strengthen the architectural hotbed of research would be. The objective of this article is to explain said strategy. The results of this exercise were: first, the identification and formulation of a research training strategy applied to the eighth, ninth and tenth semesters of the Architecture programme. This applied exercise changed the didactic means of teaching research competencies to the students in order to better organise their innovative ideas through systematised processes. This enabled the development of collaborative work experience oriented towards scientific research within the classroom, in a very short time.